Never Give Up
by zaz11496
Summary: Melinda has a little secret. Will it define her or destroy her? How will her and Jim deal with the consequences of this secret? Will this secret bring them together? or will it tare them apart?
1. Chapter 1

it was seven thirty when Melinda finally came down for breakfast. She looked tired and frazzled, two things she had become acquainted with during this time of year. Yes, indeed it was almost christmas, which meant more shopping and more customers... something she did enjoy doing... was shopping but, when it came to her store, she sometimes wished people would buy new things and be done with it.

Melinda solemnly stepped in the door. She felt a breeze go buy her and realized it was her energetic five year old, probably on some sort of sugar high. She knew that if Jim was home it was probably his fault. Although she loved him dearly, he was kind of a push over when it comes to, well... anything. I walked in the door praying that i could just relax and blow off some steam.

I had recently found out that I am expecting again... not to say that I'm not excited. This one just came as a little bit of a shock to us... I've kinda been working so hard that I really haven't had the time to breathe never mind shopping for the soon to be new member of our family. It doesn't matter because tomorrow I have another doctors appointment and I hope she doesn't comment on the fact that i've been stressed out of my mind and working way to hard... Especially since it is currently holiday shopping season.

"Hey Mel!, how was your day?" Jim pored me a cup of tea as I sat down at the kitchen.

"Well... long people seem to realize that it is only two days until christmas so... of course where do they go to to get a last minute christmas present... the antiques store.."

"I know honey... but don't worry It will die down... after this weekend it will all be over.

"I wish... but theres still two weeks until Christmas which means, a week and a half before I can finally relax.

Jim moved behind Melinda and started massaging her shoulders.

Mel tilted her head back and shut her eyes. "I love you...mmmmm thank you for the back rub I needed it"

Jim smiled at his loving wife and continued to rub her back.

"I know you've been stressed so..." Jim started massaging her back with his elbows.

"So how was your day with Aiden? I see you fed him sugar..." Mel uttered sounding a little tense.

"Well, it was interesting, we went to get him a new pair of skates, his old ones are too small for him. I wanted to get that out of the way before his tournament in a few weeks. Then we swung by the hospital to pick up some patient notes before Aid went to practise and I went to work for an hour. When I picked him up Ben's mum had invited him over, so at around three dropped Aid there and that is where he had all the sugar. Jane took Ben and him to the candy store for good behaviour while she was on a business call."

Mel inhaled sharply and exhaled letting the stress and gratifying events of the day leave with her exhale.

"Wow... you really are tired...aren't you?"

Melinda was soon asleep on the couch before Jim had the chance to give her any food. Instead of waking his wife who would be very angry at him for waking her from her slumber, Jim lifted her up and brought her too their room.

The next week Mel came down stairs feeling a little less run down then she had the prior few days she had come home. Today was her day off and the first official day of her holiday. Today was also doctor appointment day, she knew that the doctor would comment at how stressed she was and how it was important for her to maintain a healthy lifestyle throughout her pregnancy...

Jim was in the kitchen getting breakfast for Aiden and talking on the phone with the hospital when Melinda made her appearance. Jim got off the phone as Melinda was pouring Aiden a glass of milk.

"Hey!" Jim gave his wife a deep meaningful good morning kiss.

Aiden gave his parents a disgusted look and stuck his tongue out.

"morning" mel mumbled into Jim's chest. They embraced then broke apart to get their days started.

After breakfast which is Melinda's case was a glass of water, morning sickness prevented her from eating much and this morning was especially difficult for her.

Aiden had gone outside to build a snow fort with his friends, while Melinda took the opportunity to wrap some of his gifts and hide them in the crawl space.

"Hey Mel waht times your appointment today?" Jim came out from the kitchen.

"It's at three why?" Melinda was busy wrapping an oddly shaped race car set, Jim had bought for Aiden.

"I gotta make sure i can take my car in to get fixed and make it to your appointment" Jim was speaking to his wife from the kitchen.

"Jim it's just routine you really don't have to come..." Mel didn't really want to go she was tired and wasn't looking forward to getting a lecture from her doctor and then Jim.

"If you are trying to get me skip seeing my child in a sonogram you are sadly mistaken" Jim was being sarcastic and trying to lighten the mood for his poor exhausted wife.

At three jim and Melinda had dropped their son off at Mel's mother's house and were on their way to the doctors. Jim was worried because Mel had been quiet almost the entire way there. He was concerned because this behaviour was so unlike her, she didn't even talk about the nasty ghost she was trying to chase out of her life.

When they had arrived at their destination, before walking out of the car Jim asked her a question.

"Mel is there something you aren't telling me? you've been really distant lately and i'm getting worried about you..." Jim was genuinely concerned about his wife's behaviour, not just in the car, but her excessive working, her dodging of questions and her refusal to speak about ghosts makes him worry that maybe something is going with her.

"Mel whatever it is we can deal with it together, we're a team and i'd like to be able to speak to you without you avoiding my questions... Whatever you have to say I promise i will help you if i can I love just please talk to me babe you have no idea what you mean to me... I hate seeing you so distant... please talk to me" Jim was almost tears when he finished his little speech.

Mel looked into the sea blue eyes of her beautiful and loving husband. she quickly looked away and started to stare out the window of the car. She knew that she would have to tell... she knew how important is was for him to know... the only thing she was scared of was the reaction she was going to get from him... how was he gonna take the news... she couldn't think about it to herself let alone say it out loud to Jim. But, she knew that if it had happened to him she would be the first person to know and she would be there for him no matter what.

Jim stared at her for a long time before Melinda had the courage to look at him again and this time, tears were streaming down her face. Jim notice the effect his thoughts had on his wife and quickly unbuckled to comfort his wife.

"Mel i'm sorry i was being idiot i'm so sorry here come here" Jim pulled her into a comforting hug.

Although this seemed to help comfort Jim it did nothing for her. A few seconds of silence went by were they both said nothing.

Melinda took a sharp breathe in and exhaled. she slowly looked up at Jim, who gave her a questioning look.

" Jim, there's something I never told you..."


	2. Chapter 2

Jim gave Melinda a serious stare as her facial expression dictated that the matter needed to be handled with caution and complete attention.

"three months ago as you know I went out with the girls... We were at this random bar back where our old apartment used to be a couple blocks outside spanish harlem... the bar was pretty shady but we knew the owner and the bar tender so we thought we were taken care of... After we decided to leave Jenny and Lindsey were drunk so we decided to go for a walk. We walked the two drunks back to Jen's apartment in the bronx and headed towards Brooklyn... there we stepped into another bar called 4520. It sounded pretty awesome so we went in... turns out it's part dance club too...Anyways we walked in and I recognized this guy that was eyeing me for a while at the bar... It turned out to be one of my ex boyfriend's Jason... he was looking at me with his sketchy looking friend. I thought he was being creepy so we left... anyway i didn't know it but...

Melinda was silently crying, tears were coming down her face.

"What happened Mel i promise I will never be mad at you..." Jim gave his wife a kiss on the cheek.

Melinda continued slowly regaining her breath.

"He was following me... the entire time...when I was heading back to my car he got me alone and he um..." Melinda was now hysterically crying.

"Mel what? what did he do to you? I swear i won't be mad I just want to know what happened? please you're getting me really worried..." Jim was now n the verge of tears once again.

"He raped me..." those were the only words that she could manage to escape her lips and then she went deadly quiet for a very long time.

Jim had a look of disgust and hatred on his face, which cause Mel to start crying once again...

Once Jim regained his composure and thought critically about what to say to his broken wife he took her into his arms kissing her on the cheek and every square inch of her face afterwords.

"God Mel... I wish... I feel... I can't even tell you how this makes me feel... i wish I was there for you... I just I want you to tell me everything that happened... I don't care how hard it is on me to hear I want to know exactly what happened." Jim had tears in his eyes.

Mel just nodded her head with tears flowing down her face at a constant rate.  
" I had just said goodbye to Lindsay when I felt like someone was walking closely behind me... It was another few hundreds metres before i would reach my own car. I kept wanting to look back but felt like I was just being paranoid... so... I just kept walking. I had just passed this old looking building when I saw him come up behind me. I started screaming but he put his hand over my mouth and held my head back... I never told you this but.. the reason Jason and I broke up was because I felt like he was mentally unstable... I couldn't be around him without him being somehow slightly angry or frustrated with somebody or even myself... After we broke up I feared that he would try and hurt me for breaking his heart so I got a restraining order... He broke it a few times and that's when I changed addresses and phone numbers and pretty much my entire image... I knew that when I found someone I truly loved I couldn't stay in the city anymore... i knew for sure he would try and find me maybe even hurt me or you... So that is why I told you we should move somewhere far away from the city... That's when I found Grandview... He would never suspect me of living here.. it was completely unlike me when I was dating him... I didn't think he was still looking for me when i went drinking in my old neighbourhood with the girls... I didn't think he was that sick... He dragged me by the hair leading me towards this dark looking area... That's where it happened... behind a trash can in an alleyway in spanish harlem..." Melinda was now in full tears letting all her emotion flow freely from her eyes.

Jim was trying his best not to go man hunting for the son of a bitch who put his fingers on his wife let alone... he couldn't bring himself to even think it let alone say it...He leaned in hold Melinda rocking her gently back and forth, consoling his poor broken wife. Once she had finally calmed down enough, Jim looked at her lovingly brushing her tear stained cheeks.

"Mel... I love you... I want you to come with me okay? were gonna file a police report and you need to get a rape kit done okay? were gonna have to talk this through with a doctor or something okay honey? you're gonna be fine come here.." Jim leaned in giving her a hug and kissing every inch of her face and neck he could reach.

Mel just cried not wanting to let her husband go. Afraid of what would happen if he left her. Afraid of what he was thinking.. what if he was loosing feelings for her because of what happened? What if she never recovers and has to live with the pain for the rest of her life? All these questions were circulating around her head and she almost felt like she could just die.

"Mel.. please talk to me..please let me know you're okay with all of this... I need to know you love me and trust me.. I need to know you're gonna be okay." Jim was looking into her beautiful brown eyes.

"I'll try... I promise ... Jim there's still one more thing... probably the thing i'm most upset about..." Melinda couldn't even look at him she felt shame and dirty everywhere she turned and couldn't even begin to look into those crystal blue eyes and fill them with dirt.

Jim gave her an encouraging hug and a smile. "Anything.. tell me everything and anything" Jim's voice echoed through her head filling her mind with courage and understanding.

"He didn't use a condom... So... there's a chance the baby could be...his" Melinda could barely let the last word escape her lips but when it did it caused her to shutter in disgust.

Jim stared shocked into the windshield then into his own reflection in the rear view mirrors.

"What do you want to do Mel it's all up to you...I don't care if this baby is mine or not what matters to me is that you get better..." Jim looked satisfied with his choice of words and looked at his wife quizzically.

"If it isn't yours.. I don't want it... I can't take having a constant reminder of what happened in the form of a baby.. I can't do it... I want to do a paternity test.. if it's yours i will feel the most relief a person can feel..." Mel looked up into the windshield.

"What if it isn't Mel?" Jim looked worriedly into his darling wife's eyes.

"If it isn't... I'll terminate it..." Mel said it coldly like she didn't even want to think of becoming emotionally attached to a baby made out of fear and pain.

"Are you sure Mel? i thought you said you would never terminate something that is living... I don't care if it even is that son of a bitches kid.. I would raise it like it was my own without question... Mel that baby may be half him but it's still half you... like Aiden is... he physically doesn't look like me in this body, but people believe I am doing the right thing by bringing him up like he is mine... I would do that with this kid... whatever you decide to do now.." Jim knew that Melinda would probably still want to terminate it.. but the baby was still a living being to him and he felt like it needed a shot at life, whether it was his or not.

Once Mel wiped her eyes and cleaned herself up a little... they slowly made their way from the car to Melinda's doctors office. They were already 15 minutes late and were most likely going to be given an icy look from the receptionist when they got in.

When Jim and Mel had been settled in the examination room, Mel was wearing a hospital gown and sitting on the exam chair while Jim was sitting confidently beside her. When they entered they had asked for a private meeting with the doctor. They wanted to discuss the whole paternity issue surrounding the unborn child in confidential.

Dr. Chase stepped into the room seeing a nervous Melinda and a shaky looking Jim she knew something was up.

"Well... hello to both of you, I got a page from my receptionist asking for a private exam today.. since I've known the both of you for a number of years I came and by the looks of your faces you seem worried and nervous so what seems to be the problem?" Dr. Chase shut the door behind her taking a seat at the desk in front of them.

Melinda and Jim proceeded to re explain what situation they were now in and what concerns they were having about one another.

"Wow.. that is quite a problem, what are you hoping to achieve if in fact this child is indeed belonging to this man?" Dr . Chases eyes grew from concerned to professional.

"Well, I have no say in this decision I feel that if Melinda feels like she cannot handle it... we would terminate the pregnancy, but if she feels like she could at least carry the child we would put it up for adoption... I'm not sure on her position of whether keeping it is a good idea for her yet.." Jim sounded professional and laid all of their ideas out for Dr. Chase.

"I see and Melinda how do you feel about this whole ordeal if you were faced with this dilemma would you be willing to carry the child and or raise it?"

Mel who had been quiet looked up.

" I can't even think about it let alone stare at it... I can't even imagine... no i wouldn't carry it..." Melinda had tears coming from her eyes.

"completely understandable, normally in paternity cases I frown upon terminating a pregnancy.. but since your case is unique it is safe to say I would help you through the process if indeed that is the route you want to take?" Dr. Chase looked into Melinda's tearful eyes and gave her a comforting smile.

Jim gave Mel his hand as his strength and looked up at her.

"Yes, I don't think I would be able to handle looking at a baby made out of fear... it would be too hard for me..." Melinda felt like she could relax a little now... al her cards were laid out on the table, the only thing she was scared of was their next move.

"Well, I will collect a blood sample from you and from you and I am gonna need you, Jim to leave the room while I exam your wife and collect stem cells from the foetus.

Jim stepped out letting the doctor take control of the situation. He had no idea how good of an actor his wife was until she told him what had happened to her three months ago. she has been hiding the truth from him for three months.

Now all they had to do was wait for the results...

It had been a whole month of worry and sympathetic hugs from those close friends whom she told the truth to. They had filed a police report and Mel had regretfully done a rape kit.

She knew that all that stuff could not amount to the anticipation she was feeling inside. The only thing she was dying to know was taking the longest to process.

Finally they got the call to come into Dr. Chases office.

They went together both shaking and nervous. especially Melinda.

Dr. Chase had a professional look on her face and held in her hand a file containing the DNA results to the paternity test.

They all sat down as Dr. Chase asked them the same questions she had asked them a few weeks ago. She wanted to ensure that the plan was still a go.

She took for Mel what felt like two years to finally get to the results.

In the case of the paternity of the unborn child, the DNA did not match to a Jim Clancy... I'm sorry... It matched to a Jason Greene..." Dr. Chase gave the couple a few minutes alone to talk and grieve.

Mel didn't say anything she just sat there staring at the folder that had revealed their unfortunate fate.

"Mel I know this is not what you wanted... this is not what either of us wanted but... I guess it's time to say goodbye to this one..."


	3. Chapter 3

It had been two days since they ha both discovered the heartbreaking truth about their situation. Jim was once again getting worried about his wife... She was very emotional and would cry even at the sight of anything related to babies. She was fragile from the pregnancy hormones and the fact that she had a decision to make. Dr. Chase had give Melinda a week to figure out whether she wanted to terminate the pregnancy. She gave her the risks and side effects that could come with termination as well as some of the problems that could arise if they were to keep the baby. SHe tried to be as impartial as possible, but she knew that it all came down to what the patient wanted.

The only thing that worried Jim was her clouded judgment. Over the course of the month Melinda had grown to love the baby inside her like it was Jim's hoping that the results would be what she wanted.. unfortunately that didn't happen and now he was worried that she may not know what to do.

That night they both sat down for a quiet dinner. Aiden had gone to bed and they were both quit until Jim finally broke the silence.

"Mel I know I said that this decision was completely yours to make but... doesn't mean you can't tell me what you're thinking or how you're feeling?" Jim looked at his calm wife, she seemed mentally stable for the first time in months.

"I want to carry it..." Mel was now more confident when she spoke to Jim about anything.. this entire dilemma helped her realize that she should be more assertive and honest with him.

Jim stared at her expecting to hear more from her.

"I know it isn't yours... so I feel guilty that maybe... I shouldn't want to carry it... that maybe I should hate it... but I don't... I know what happened to me was really scary and terrible and bad but I don't think about it that way anymore... I just think about... the great stuff like well... having a baby... please say something" Melinda uncrossed her arms and exhaled.

Jim stared at his wife for a few seconds before speaking.

"Mel... I love you! I told you that whatever decision you chose to make was going to be fine with me to if this is what you want to do then... Let's do it! we haven't told our friends about who the father is and they'll probably assume that it's mine anyways so... I guess we can just I guess treat it like it's my kid i love it cause although it isn't mine it is yours... and I love you so... We're gonna have a baby!" Jim came over to where Melinda was sitting and gave her a long passionate kiss.

Once they broke apart Mel spoke "I love you, you know that?"

Jim leaned over and gave her another long passionate kiss. This time placing his hand on her now visible bump.

The next doctors appointment Melinda told Dr. Chase that she wanted to carry the baby. Although this came as a shock to her doctor, Jim knew deep down that she didn't have the heart to kill something that she knew was hers.

"Alright well since you have chosen to carry the baby, I would like to have you attend private therapy sessions as a couple, this will help coach you through the whole process. I know you have Aiden but since Jim is not biologically related to this one you both may develop some issues with the decisions needed to be shared. I know you two will be fine though, the way that you look at each other tells me that you both will be fine with it. But, I still want Melinda to continue her other therapy session and tell him that you have decided against termination. Melinda any issues like, fears, anxieties, miscommunications even general denials you can talk to him or me... And Jim I know that you are a good man by standing by your wife through this whole ordeal and I'm proud of you for choosing to accept the fact that your wife is having a child... that may not exactly be yours, but is going to be raised by you both... I don't like helping promising parents terminate a pregnancy, and I thought that their was a big chance that you both would want to abort it due to the fact that how it happened wasn't exactly the ideal situation... but I am happy you both feel that you can raise it and protect it and hopefully get passed the scientific side of things by learning to love it like your own" Dr. Chase looked at Jim satisfied with what she had said to them both.

"Thank you!" Melinda was now sure of the decision she had made... she had been on the fence for a long time on whether she should abort... now hearing that even Dr. Chase believes in them brings a new life into her eyes. Jim smiled at his wife then at Dr. Chase.

"Well, we should move on to the fun part!... it's time to get a look at your baby!" Dr. Chase instructed Melinda to lift her shirt as she wheeled the machine from the corner of the room to next to the examination chair.

Dr. Chase took the bottle of bluish jelly and squeezed it onto Melinda's abdomen. She placed the probe on her stomach and looked for the image of a small little human being starting to form.

Melinda was holding on to her husband's hand expecting him to run when he saw that the baby inside her wasn't his... but all he did was comfort her and smile watching Dr. Chase point out the areas that had begun to grow. Mel couldn't help but cry at the sight of the little tiny baby inside her and how much trouble it had caused them for something so tiny and precious.

Jim even had tears in his eye, although he knew in his head that the kid wasn't really his... in his heart he knew that this baby would call him dad.

After a few more areas were pointed out, the question was finally asked.

"So, would you like to know the sex of you're little baby?" Dr. Chase had a smile on her face.

Mel looked from the screen to up at Jim and gave him a questioning look.

"I'm gonna let you decide this one." Mel gave him a smile and looked back at the screen in front of her.

She knew that he would want to know the gender. Jim looked down at Mel, lying on the exam table and then back up at the screen.

"Alright... Yes, we want to know" Jim smiled looking again from the screen to his wife.

"Well congratulations you two are expecting a little baby girl!" Dr. Chase left the room to print some pictures giving the couple some privacy.

"A girl! wow!" was all Mel could manage to say between sobs. This was the first time in a while where she was happy crying. It was amazing to know that she soon would have a daughter, and that Aiden would have a younger sister. She felt overwhelmed by the magnitude of love she saw for this image on the screen. She couldn't see a proper face, or even an eye colour but she saw a mini version of her. She saw none of him and all of her. That image in her mind, she was truly grateful for.

Jim stared at the little baby girl on the screen. He saw the promise of new life, and new love inside that picture. He pictured a mini Melinda walking around trying to boss around her older brother, he saw an entire lifetime of good memories with this little baby who wasn't even a person yet. But, he. already. loved. her. and that is all that was needed. Jim looked down at his wife who was smiling and kissed her with the all his love. He just wanted this moment to freeze in time. This moment of absolute bliss for him.

Shortly after, Dr. Chase handed them the pictures and sent them on their way with an encouraging smile.

They both got in the car smiling looking at the pictures of their baby girl. Jim had just pulled into their driveway when he heard Melinda shutter.

Their was a guy sitting on standing on their porch. He had dark hair and dark eyes and was wearing jeans and a white v neck t shirt. Mel froze with tears brimming from her eyes. She started shivering and began loosing control of her breathe.

Jim's mind was working a mile a minute. He kept asking her if she knew him? who he was? even tried to control her breathing.

finally once she calmed down a little, she finally uttered the word he hated most in the English language.

"Jason"


	4. Chapter 4

The man turned around revealing his full body and looked towards the car. Jim was trying to stay calm himself. If he went there he would be charged with murder because that man would be dead. He also didn't want to put Melinda through another traumatic experience like speaking to him again.. he called the police. But, not before he came charging for the car.

Jim took a few breathes after getting off the phone with detective blair, and decided to first politely ask this ass to please get off his property.

Jim stepped out of the car and flexing his right bicep with his phone in his pocket. He locked the door leaving Melinda all alone almost defenceless.

"Hay! you! get off my porch!" Jim yelled pointing away from his house. Luckily Aiden wasn't in the car or he would have gone total James Bond on this guy.

"I came here to talk to Melinda, my girlfriend!" The man sounded completely insane. He smiled like he got some sick satisfaction from calling her that in front of her husband.

"She is definitely not your girlfriend because she is my wife and I want you to get your crazy ass off my property and I want you to to STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM MY WIFE! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!" Jim sounded like he was gonna snap any minute. He knew that he was yelling and that would attract enough attention as it is. He didn't want people finding out about the baby's dad much less what happened to Mel. She wanted a few people to know as possible.

"I am not leaving until I speak with Melinda, I know you shes in that car.. i can see her and I want her to come out and speak to me... if you let me do that I promise I will never contact you again...I promise I won't hurt her..." the man was as senile as they come, but seemed harmless. He still wasn't sure about letting Mel come and talk to this creep. She was finally in a good place doing well in therapy and had made so much progress.

Before he could answer Melinda stepped out of the car. Her arms were crossed and she seemed pretty pissed off. He knew that his yelling would be nothing compared to a broken, pregnant and very emotionally unstable Melinda at this moment.

surprisingly, she didn't say anything. She stood there too angry to speak.

"Melinda! I'm sorry for what I did I swear I wasn't myself honey I love you and I miss you can't yo just come back home with me... I can't live without you! I love you babe" The man was inching closer to her but she still didn't move. She wore a angry expression across her face and her eyes showed how enraged she felt at that moment. And that is when she finally spoke.

"I can't even begin to explain how mad I am... If it was legal right now... you would be dead... I will never EVER BE IN YOUR LIFE! YOU ARE DEAD TO ME! WHAT YOU DID TO ME WAS THE HARDEST THING I'VE EVER BEEN THROUGH AND I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU SO AS UTTER THE WORD GIRLFRIEND, FRIEND OR ANY WORD RELATED TO SOMEHOW ME TOLERATING YOU FUCKED UP PERSON. THE NEXT TIME I SEE YOU WILL BE IN A CASKET AND I'M NOT JOKING. I HOPE YOU ROT IN PRISON FOR WHAT YOU DID YOU SON OF A BITCH AND I HOPE THAT THEY LET YOU DIE THERE IN SHAME OF WHAT YOU DID TO ME. YOU HEAR ME. I HATE YOU AND I HOPE TO NEVER EVER BE IN YOUR SCREWED UP, TWISTED PEICE OF SHIT LIFE AGAIN." Melinda finished speaking looking directly into his eyes as to tell him that he should start running now before she beats him to a pulp.

Jason looked from Melinda to Jim and then looked down at what appeared to be a baby bump.

"Are you pregnant?" his crazy smile gave Melinda the shivers and she knew that he would put two and two together...

"Are we having a baby?" his smile got bigger and he tried walking closer to her, but was intercepted by Jim stepping into his path.

"WE'RE NOT HAVING ANYTHING. THIS ISN'T YOUR BABY." you could feel the angry vibes coming off of Melinda. Jim looked back at Melinda as to warn her to get back in the car.

" Well... last time I checked the last time we saw each other was well i'd say... four months ago... and you seem to be well i'd say four months pregnant!" He looked at Jim with sweet satisfaction. Just from that look he gave him, Jim wanted to punch him in the face.

Before the creep could move any further... Jim punched him in the head causing the psychopath to fall to the ground.

Melinda went from angry to scared... of all the crap that needed to happen to her this had to be it... A fight in the middle of her front yard a crazy man.

The man stood up rubbing his head looking directly at Melinda.

"Well... you can punch me as much as you want that doesn't make that baby any less mine! I knew it was mine who else's would it be..." he gave Melinda a nice wide smile before sirens pulled up on the road and police came bounding out of the car. Jim grabbed Melinda and pulled her towards the side away from the crazy man who was standing close to her.

The police tackled him to the ground and put handcuffs on him. Melinda and Jim were pulled behind the second police car were detective blair was standing.

"I'm glad you called me instead of dealing with this son of a bitch yourself... that could have been a real mess... We have a warrant for his arrest and we took possession of his laptop. You wouldn't believe the crap we found on there. It turns out we can get him on multiple charges including rape, stalking and copyright infringement. Turns out the guys has had his hands on some of your personal files Melinda including personal transactions and medical records... god knows how he got hold of them... I think he linked yours and his e-mail addresses to each other and claimed you as his wife on all his tax returns. Luckily, we have cleared your name on all his legal papers and you no longer owe thousands of dollars to City National Bank... We also found photos of you walking and you on vacation... many of you and your son and you and Jim. He also seemed to take a liking to your son, his school received phone calls today from an anonymous number claiming that he was the father of Aiden Lucas and that he would be picking him up from school. The receptionist saw Aiden's contact sheet that his father's number would appear as Rockland memorial hospital and if it is not then it would appear as James Clancy. This call was placed from a pay phone just outside of Grandview. He was planning on taking you and Aiden away from Jim... We spoke to the family. They were nice... but not sympathetic towards him... turns out that he's been obsessing over you since you two had broken up years ago... they are willing to testify against him in favour of placing him in a permanent correctional facility specializing in mental disabilities. His parents have been trying to get him to go, but he refused. This action will put him away for years and if the psych Evaluation states that he is unfit to go to a prison Centre he will be transferred to Fort Cliff's mental correction facility just outside Little Rock, Arkansas. The family wants him far away from anyone he may try and hurt or escape to find. Along with the long list of charges we have him on possession of an illegal firearm.. we found it in his truck parked a few blocks over as well as violating his restraining order which results in immediate arrest. I know this is a lot to go through Melinda just take it easy and maybe takes a couple days off and just stay Jim for the time being..."

Jim was stunned at the crap this guy was getting away with until now...

"Okay that you detective!" Jim gave her a handshake and kissed the top of Melinda's head. He couldn't even imagine what she was going through right now. This could almost be as bad as reliving it...

"Oh and one more thing... We're going to need Melinda to testify claiming that he raped her... and it should be convincing. The rape kit was unable to provide us with much circumstantial evidence, because it was only done three months after the incident...i know it's going to be difficult but If you don't testify then the worst punishment that maniac will get is only up to two years in prison for copyright and violating his restraining order and a heavy fine for possession of an illegal firearm..." Detective Blair wanted this guy off the streets and sounded eager to get Melinda to testify.

"Umm... well I have other evidence to prove what he did to me..." Jim looked down at his poor wife who was not only forced to testify now... but to have their secret go public...

"I have documentation of a paternity test stating that this baby has the DNA of.." Melinda shuttered defensively.."Jason Greene." Melinda looked down at her bump the back at the detective.

"Okay.. I'm sure the court will be happy to work with that evidence as long as you feel okay with letting them know? I can have a private trial meaning that no media is invited and need you present but you won't have to testify." detective blair knew hoe hard that would be for Mel to deal with and understood that asking a person to admit that this happened was hard enough to do...let alone force her to relive it.

"Thank you" was all Mel said she was quiet probably having trouble processing all that had just happened in a matter of half an hour.

Jim kissed his wife on the head, and once they were given the all clear, they headed back inside to their room. Jim brought in the ultrasound photos from the car and went straight back up to Melinda.

She cried for hours not wanting to talk about it. She was shocked and humiliated and violated and assaulted and she felt like she pass out from the pain she felt inside.

Jim brought her up some food and asked Beth to keep Aiden for the night. Mel needed him to be there for her and he needed to help her through.


	5. Chapter 5

It was a month later when, Melinda had to show up to testify. She had gotten better and more comfortable with the situation she was in. She was still really nervous for testifying against the man who will never mentioned again after this whole trial is over.

Mel was not only forced to tell her story to a jury but had to reveal who the real father of her child is... Which she wasn't too thrilled about.

"Alright Mel we have to get going... it'll be fine we'll be back here before Aid gets out of school..." Jim gave his wife a comforting look and kissed her.

"I love you honey..." Jim leaned his head on her shoulder and placed his hands on her growing baby bump.

"Everything will be over after this okay? just trust me honey..." Jim kissed her on the neck.

Once they arrived at the court house, Mel got a glimpse of the disgusting man that almost ruined her. He was in an orange jump suit and smiled at her like he was happy to see her near him. Mel was getting scared and anxious to say what she needed to say and get out.

Detective Blair gave them both a hello and sat them down. The court room was smaller and nobody was allowed to watch the proceedings which Melinda was thankful for.

The judge looked over the paternity test a concluded that Melinda not needed to testify. Jason Greene was found to be guilty on all accounts and was going to undergo a psych evaluation.

Jim was happy that this man would no see or ever touch his wife ever again. But no one felt more relief than Melinda. She could finally sleep at night and think of nothing but peace without any fears of being haunted by the man who hurt her in the worst possible way she could be.

They're minds were both at ease and just had to focus on having a baby. They were no longer forced to think about when and if he would return to do something to them. For the first time in months, they were happy to go home and rest and just be together, not for Melinda's protection, but just because they could be together.

Later that night, they got a phone call from detective Blair saying that Jason had just underwent a psych evaluation and is going to be sent to Little Rock in the morning. Melinda knew that this would happen and was glad he wouldn't be anywhere near her or her baby.

She was happy to never hear about him ever again, for as long as they all should live.

The next day was peaceful spent celebrating with Aiden, Delia and Eli. Of course Aiden had no idea what they were celebrating, but he was happy that his parents were happy and that he could now spend more time with them. Delia was relieved that the son of a bitch who hurt her friend.

"You have no idea how relieved I am for you Mel! I can't even imagine how lightening this must be for you!" Delia gave her best friend a big hug smiling down at her.

"Yeah it feels pretty good!" Melinda smiled at her friend. She felt like a giant burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

"So I guess you can sort of move on with your life now..." Delia put her hand on her friends shoulder.

"Well... I still have a lot to tell you..." Mel looked up at her friend her eyes misting over.

"Like what? I thought everything was all over?" Delia gave her friend a questioning look.

"Well... not exactly..." Mel never told Delia about the paternity, she felt that she would judge her no matter how many reasons she told her.

"Why whats going on?" Delia looked over at Jim who was in the kitchen with Eli. Jim gave Mel a look and told Eli to help him barbecue outside.

"Umm... you're going to find this difficult to understand... which is a stretch because you kinda know me so...just hear me out okay?" Mel sat down on the couch and instructed her to take a seat as well.

"Whatever it is Mel i'm sure I will do my best to understand... What is it? you're getting me worried..." Delia looked worriedly at Melinda searching in her eyes for some sort of answer.

Melinda exhaled and shut her eyes trying to think of a way to start...

"Well umm... I'm six months pregnant and he ummm... he raped me six months ago so..." Melinda was hoping that Delia would put two and two together.

"Yeah... and..." Just then theory hit Delia like a bag of bricks. "OH MY GOD! is it... oh.. my..." Delia's face was a picture, she tried her best to stay calm hoping that her friend would give her a little more information.

"Well... umm.. when I told Jim he was completely supportive of whatever I wanted to do... we did a paternity test... which he was fine with... at first I was thinking of terminating it... I was still shocked and in denial of the whole situation... I thought that if this was his I wouldn't be able to handle the whole idea of having to look at it... but after a while... I got really attached to it... without even knowing who the father was... When we found out... I was devastated I was so sure that it was Jim's I had no idea what I wanted to do if it was his... the doctor gave us a week to talk it over with each other and figure out what we wanted to do, now that we knew the truth... ummm... well Jim told me that he was fine with whatever I wanted to do...he maybe not biologically related to this child... but he was going to be the father... his name was going to be put down as the birth father and it was going to be raised as his... at first I felt like it would be hard on Jim to go through this whole thing without it being his kid... but we talked and he said he was fine with whatever I decided. Besides I would be the one who would be affected by it... well I guess you know that we decided to have it... there was a lot of uncertainty about maybe putting it up for adoption if it was indeed his kid... but there is no way I'm having my daughter go and live with some other family that is just never going to happen...

"Delia looked at her friend with tears in her eyes. "I have never seen such a selfless act... Melinda Gordon you continue to surprise me... and I think that this baby will do nothin but bring you and Jim closer together..." Delia came over to Mel and gave her a hug.

"Thanks and You're the only one besides us the doctor and the judge who know about this so... you are not to speak a word... eventually I do plan on telling Eli and maybe one day my mom... but Aiden will only know of her as his little sister.. and so will everyone else.." Melinda smiled.

"That's fine by me, I'm honoured that you told me something like this.. thank you for trusting me with this!" Delia was not troubled by the decision her friend made about deciding to keep the baby. She felt like a proud mother to Melinda.

Melinda hugged Delia tightly and had tears in her eyes.

Delia looked up at her friend "And if there is ever something you are worried about with this one...I'm here for you no matter what! I love you honey and I'm proud of you!" Delia hugged her friend once again.

Jim and Eli came back inside with a plate of steaks and grilled vegetables... "Whose hungry?" Eli yelled from the kitchen. Jm held up the plate and placed it at the center of the table.

Aiden came in from the backyard with grass stains on his shirt.

"Aid i just got you that shirt! how is it already a mess?" Melinda looked at her son and directed him to put his arms up as she took the grassy shirt off of him.

"Glad this ones a girl eh?" Delia smiled and placed a hand on Mel's bump.

Melinda laughed at her friends honest remark "Yeah! that I am!" she smiled and went upstairs to get a fresh shirt for her son.  
Later that evening Delia and Eli had gone home and Jim was carrying Aiden up to bed. He had fallen asleep in his arms while all the adults were talking.

Mel was cleaning up from the kitchen when she heard a knock at the door.

Mel smiled she knew it would most likely be Eli who forgot his sunglasses on the table when he left.

Melinda opened the door to a completely different surprise... a women that looked to be in her mid to late sixties was standing on her front porch. She recognized her, as she had been at the trial earlier today...

"Hello...I'm sorry I came here so late but you're home isn't exactly next door to ours and we had some legal things to deal with after the trial..." the women seemed embarrassed and a little shy. She acted like she already knew her which was strange because Mel didn't know that first thing about the women other than she was part of the trial.

Mel just gave her a confused look and felt like just shutting the door to avoid the awkward tension that was creating a barrier before them.

"ummmm... do I know you...?" Mel was genuinely confused and gave the women a stare.

"OH MY! how rude of me! um my name is Janice Greene I'm Jason's mother..."

Melinda shook her head as to say your family is unbelievable..." Melinda had tears in her eyes... She had just felt such relief when the trial was all over... and now this person shows up wanting to bring it all back up again...

"I understand if you didn't want to talk to me... I know that what he did to you is unforgivable and I know that if I was in your position I would have slammed the door and told me to take a hike..." The women sounded desperate.

Melinda wasn't to keen on hearing her out she started moving the door closed. but before she could close it the women spoke again.

"Before you shut me out of your life I just want you to listen..." the women had a sad look on her face.

Melinda thought that before she forgets entirely about the family she unfortunately knows she might as well hear this poor women out... She sounded like she went to a lot of trouble to find her.

"you have ten minutes..." Melinda didn't want to elongate this whole ordeal.

The women gave her a relieved look and proceeded.

"I know what my son did to you was absolutely unforgivable... I know that you really want nothing to do with our family and just want to be left alone by us... but our attorney told us about the paternity test... that baby is umm... partly his... and so we want to be part of this child's life... and if you feel that this is not something you want to happen.. then we are willing to send child support...The mistakes my son made are unforgivable but we are willing to compromise with you about maybe being there...for it and I personally wish to know it as my grandchild but I would understand if you wanted all of us to stay away..." the women grew quiet giving Melinda time to think about all of this.

Jim came down looking for Melinda and found her at the front door taking to an elderly women he didn't know.

"Hey.. Mel I was looking for you... Hi I'm Jim Clancy" Jim gave the women a handshake.

"Hello I'm Janice Greene" the lady gave him a half smile and turned her attention back to Melinda who was still shocked by the proposition the women had come up with.

Jim gave her a disappointed look then looked down at his wife who seemed to be thinking very critically about what they had been whispering about before he arrived there.

"What have you been discussing with my wife? hasn't your son done enough damage alone?" Jim looked hurt at the nerve this women had stepping onto their porch.

"Jim it's alright... she just heard about the paternity test..." Melinda wasn't too pleased that she had heard about it.

"Oh...Well for one thing I am going down as the father and you're son will get no visual rights no parenting right.. nothing and I would appreciate it if you didn't even mention anything else about the child to him ever again..." Jim sounded mad that this family of arrogant fools believes that they can just walk into their lives because of an incredibly crude act that her son (he assumed) did...

"I know and I understand... we just want to offer you some child support... not his money our money, me and my husband... we want to be part of this child's life... and we know it is unrealistic and an irrational thing to ask... especially since of what a disturbing act that my own asshole of a son did... but he was our only child and with his mental disabilities we assumed we would never get the chance to continue our family generation let alone get the chance to have a grandchild... We are not asking for any sort of entitlement but we just want to help you out.. whether that be financially or babysitting... just be around it... I don't expect you to to give it our last name let alone let it call us grandma and grandpa but if we could just be like family friends... just people who drop in any now and again... as for child support we can help you two out with anything you wish... I am lucky enough to be well off and am prepared to sacrifice whatever is necessary for this child to have a comfortable life...if you would please consider it... it would mean the world to me and my husband..." the women seemed to really believe whole heartedly in Melinda and Jim and seemed to have a flicker of hope in her eyes.

Melinda looked up at Jim who had a slightly with drawled look on his face. She searched his eyes for any sort of answer that would make this decision easier on her.

"Mel it really isn't my decision to make... whatever you decide I am fine with as long as you're comfortable with it.." Jim finished his sentence with a smile.

Although it was nice of him.. it did not make this decision any easier on Mel. She knew that this women seemed nice and nothing like her son... but she was still uncertain about the whole family being involved in this kids life. How would she react to having people in and out of her life like that? Would she think of them as people if they didn't come around and only paid for her things? She wasn't sure what to say... she definitely didn't want any affiliation with their son and was afraid that if they were to ever see him they might discuss her and she wouldn't be able to handle that.

"Is it possible for me to contact you when I have made my decision?" Melinda could make up her mind now, so they both exchanged numbers and Melinda promised to call her within the week with her answer.

The women was eternally grateful for her consideration and was just happy to be potentially part of this baby's life.

They both waved her off and Jim grabbed her by the waist guiding her inside... they had a lot of talking to do...


	6. Chapter 6

Once they got to their bedroom Melinda laid down next to Jim looking at him with an uncertain look in her eyes...She was so lost and frustrated and she couldn't take much more... She had tears in her eyes... what should she do? She had no idea... What they refused their help? Would they stalk her like their son did? She was just so scared and worried and emotional and felt like she hadn't slept in years...

Jim gave her a long kiss and moved closer to her. He wrested his hands on bump rubbing it an resting his head on her shoulder. Melinda was thinking deeply about what options she had and what she could do?

"Mel I love you and I think we're going to be okay... we just need to think about what we want for our baby... The rest doesn't matter okay? don't think to hard about this one okay? we have other much more important things for me to worry about babe... okay?" Jim kissed her on the neck and the hair.

"Melinda turned towards him and rested her head on his chest hearing his heartbeat. Jim helped her get comfortable and that is how they fell asleep... Her head on his chest and his hands on her bump.

The following morning for the first time in a long time Melinda had a goodnight sleep. She slept late and woke up feeling refreshed.

Today was going to be a good day for her! she had another doctors appointment and was hoping that everything was still okay with her little girl inside of her.

Jim greeted her in the kitchen with a tea in his hand. Mel smiled at him and kissed him.

"Morning" Mel sounded cheerful and perky, two feeling he hadn't seen in her for quite some time.

"Morning honey you must of had a good sleep?" Melinda smiled up at him and kissed him again.

"Yes, I did and I'm guessing a slept through Aid's alarm clock because I never heard it... I'm guessing you woke him and got him on the bus then..." Mel was hoping he had replaced her this morning.

"Yes, I got him on his bus and made him breakfast and got him dressed made sure he did all his homework the usual schedule..." Jim smiled cleaning up the morning mess of the kitchen table.

"Wow! I love you for that..." Mel gave him another long kiss.

"You know since were alone?" Mel gave him a slick look.

Jim gave her a look and followed his wife towards their room.  
"Mel are you sure? If you aren't ready we can wait don't let me pressure you..." Jim was trying make sure that she was okay to do this and felt ready.

"Yes, I mean look at me I don't think It can get any worse and i feel okay and safe now that he's not here anymore... I promise you I'm ready and i'm pregnant and i just want you.." Mel kissed him and took his hand leading him to their bedroom.

Jim kissed her back with the most passion he could possibly have, and closed the door. They both spent the next two and a half hours in complete bliss. When Jim and her were together she didn't feel scared, but satisfied and loved. he was the love of her life and no matter what some people know, the father of both her children.

Afterwords they were both lying in each others arms. Jim was cuddling Mel close to his body. He hated to admit but he missed her... he understood that it took time but he was happy she was back in his arms.

"Jim remember we have to be gone by one thirty okay?" Mel had just remembered that she had a doctors appointment and had to be there soon.

Once they arrived at the examination room Dr. Chase congratulated them on their victory. Melinda thanked her and they moved on to their regularly scheduled appointment.

"Alright Melinda I am happy report that your baby is doing well and is happy and healthy!" Dr. Chase smiled and escorted her patients out of the room and gave them a sincere smile.

TWO MONTHS LATER

Mel was now eight months pregnant. She was getting really tired and emotional and was done being pregnant.

She had made the decision to allow Janice and Ian Greene as they were called to be part of this baby's life. They would be referred to as Janice and Ian and nothing else. Against Mel's wishes they sent her a large amount of money to help support the baby.

Jim was happy with the peaceful resolution that they had planned and he was glad they were able to communicate.

Aiden didn't know who these people really were but took a liking to them and Melinda assured him that those people were going be a part of his life for a very long time.

Unlike Melinda's pregnancy with Aiden, she didn't receive any scary warnings or glimpses from the other side which should have been a relief for her... but what if this little girl wasn't going to be gifted like him?

Although Mel was supposed to be relieved she was generally worried. What if she never understands or doesn't feel like she amounts to anything compared to her brother and mother.

Mel was thinking about this before before Jim came upstairs looking for her.

"Hey honey... just put our sleeping son to bed and now I'm gonna hit the hay because I'm really tired... and I feel like I could sleep for a million years" Jim fell back on the bed his head resting comfortably on his pillow.

It was a few hours later when he was shaken awake by Melinda...

"Mel... whats wrong?" Jim rubbed his eyes and looked at a worried looking Melinda.

"I think I just went into labour...'' Mel looked horrified she was nowhere close to ready to giving birth...

"Are you sure?" Jim put a hand on her bump and looked at looked at her. She was as pale as a ghost (no pun intended). Jim jumped out of bed and sprung into action. He collected the baby bag and brought woke Aiden up. He got Melinda into the car and dropped Aiden off at Melinda's mothers.

Jim called Doctor Chase from the car and alerted her that the baby was coming early. The doctor paged the delivery ward that they were going to arrive.

Mel was trying not to freak out and breathe through the contraction that were starting to cripple her.

Jim was breaking all the speed limits and trying to keep his distraught wife calm.

"It's alright Mel we're gonna be there soon... okay just keep breathing honey okay?"

Melinda had a death grip on Jim's shoulder and was whimpering in pain.

"Alright baby we're gonna be there in five minutes okay? everything is gonna be okay!" Jim pulled into the hospital and helped Melinda get out with the baby bag strapped to his shoulder

"Alright time to have a baby..." Jim helped his wife into the hospital and once she was settled Jim finally realized the experience they were about to enter... They were going to have a baby.

Shortly after arriving in the room, Dr. Chase came with a smile. She seemed happy and perky for someone talking to them at three in the morning.

"Hi... well we have you on an IV drip to help speed up development. Now all we have to do is wait... unfortunately,this type of medication doesn't react well with an epidural so.. you are going to have to deliver this baby without any pain management medication..." Dr. Chase ended on a different note.

Jim gave his wife a sympathetic look. He knew it was going to be a long night  
for them...

Mel had a look of terror in her eyes but knew that it could be a lot worse.

Doctor Chase continued "Alright if you have any questions just page the nurse and if there are no questions then I will se you in a couple hours..." Dr. Chase gave Melinda a Reassuring smile and then left the room.

As soon as she left, Melinda gave Jim a worried look.

"Jim I can't do this!" Melinda was freaking out.. she couldn't begin to explain the emotions that were going through her.

"Alright shhhh... Mel calm down... we can doing this! you can do this! alright you are single handedly the strongest person I know... and I believe that you can do this okay?" Jim looked into Mel's eyes.

He looked confident and reassuring, two things that she desperately needed right now.

For the next two hours Jim was coaching her through contractions. Mel would grip onto his hand and he would help coach her breathing giving her encouraging words and keeping her awake through it all.

After the two hours of hell as Melinda so graciously called it, Cr. Chase came in to monitor her progress. She was five centimetres dilated which meant that they were half way there.

Mel looked tired and pale and just wanted this baby out. Once Chase exited the room once again, Jim returned to her side and held her hand.

"Jim..." Mel was quiet, her contractions were now six minutes apart and so she had time to recover after each one.

"Yeah Mel?" Jim was busy arraigning the pillows in a comfortable way to help her. Although he was doing this, he still held onto his wife's hand in case she were to get another contraction.

"Do you think I made the right choice on having this baby...?" Melinda had a worried look in her eyes. Jim could tell that she was being serious and knew that her having second thought and stress now was not good.

"Mel, the day you told me you wanted to carry this baby, was one of the happiest days on my life. To know that I would be living this experience with you, and it wouldn't be as rushed as Aiden although it did have it's problems... I am still the most overjoyed person to ever walk the planet... I didn't want you to be pressured by me and I didn't want to influence your decision but I knew deep inside that this baby was going to be in this world... I was just waiting for you to admit it to yourself..." Jim said this all with confidence and encouragement he had in him.

Mel's worry melted away with those words... She was now sure that she had made the right decision, that this baby would be loved and well taken care of. But before she could dwell on that thought for too much longer another contraction hit her and she was back to the most painful and crippling contraction she has had.

Jim noticed how tight her grip got and her irregular breathing and made a note that she was probably getting towards the end of her labor.

"I love you Jim... I'm so lucky to have someone like you in my life!" Mel said that between breathes as she did her best to regulate her breathing on her own.

Towards the tale end Jim was getting scared himself... Melinda was strong but was she strong enough to do this all with medication? She was already screaming and she wasn't even at the worst part yet...

Thankfully Dr. Chase came in and Jim prayed that she was ready, because his hand was most likely broken just from her contractions.

"Alright Melinda how are you feeling?" doctor Chase was a nice lady but I could tell that she really wasn't doing Mel any favours by putting that sympathetic look on her face unless she was going to let Mel have the drugs. Let's be honest here, even Jim needed the drugs...

"Like I'm gonna die..." Mel didn't sound that sarcastic and I could tell why, if I was in her place I probably would have chocked the nurse into giving me the epidural.

"Alright well... I will check your progress now and we'll go from their..." Dr. Chase closed the curtain and had me removed from my seat.

When she opened the curtains again she handed me a pair of scrubs and instructed me to meet them in the delivery room.

Melinda was wheeled there with a tired and worried expression on her face warning me that I'd better hurry up or my hand will be personally beaten and bruised to a pulp.  
I quickly threw the scrubs on and met them in the delivery room. Melinda was there freakin out and scared. Once i entered Dr. Chase asked me to keep her calm. Most women freak out during delivery and those are the ones with the epidurals... She told me to coach her through it to the best of my abilities and encourage her when needed and to shut up when instructed. Very simple instruction but putting it into action was going to be really difficult.

Jim moved towards his wife and grabbed her hand. Dr. Chase gave Melinda specific instructions that needed to be followed.

"Alright Melinda when i say we're gonna try pushing okay? don't try before or you'll risk bruising so when I say you're going to push and we're going to count to three alright?" Dr. Chase sounded very self assured which was great but didn't really help Melinda she was still not looking forward to this part... Melinda vaguely nodded her head and shifted her body a little.

Jim grabbed her hand and kissed her on the head before doctor Chase instructed her to push.

Jim felt like he was going to pass out from the pain he felt... he knew that if Melinda could hear his thoughts right now she would kill him. She needed him there as her rock...

I could tell Melinda was in excruciating pain, he had never seen her so miserable before. Jim tied her hair back for her as she instructed her to do between contractions.

Doctor Chase told Melinda to push on the next contraction and that they were getting closer.

Jim could tell it was coming, he could feel Melinda's grip getting tighter on his hand.

Mel felt like she was gonna pass out from the pain she felt from that contraction.  
"Oh GOD! AHHH!" Mel gripped tighter onto her husband and right now punching bag's hand.

Doctor Chase kept reassuring her. "That was great Melinda! we can almost see the head keep pushing!"

Mel kept pushing, her grip getting so tight on Jim's hand that it looked blue.

the doctor encouraged her once again as did Jim. "That was your best one yet Melinda! you can see a head here!" Melinda's head was on her pillows she was trying for hundredth time that night to control her breathing.

Jim really wanted to see what a baby's head was like, he really wanted to see that little baby's first glimpse at life but with the death grip he was getting From Melinda, it looks like he was going to be staying right were he was.

Another contraction flew her right back into reality, she had had a longer thirty second break and wasn't ready to start feeling more pain... but she was thrown right into it.

"Alright Melinda we just need a few more big pushes and your little baby will be out!" the doctor sounded comforting yet still professional.

Mel pushed, she was in so much pain that she was literally crying while pushing. Whatever they gave women as a pain manager, she wished she had it.

"Alright Melinda that was very good! I need just two more like that!" the doctors instructions sounded very clear in Melinda's head. 'do as I say or I will keep you in this pain for a whole lot longer'.

"Come on Mel you can do this you're so close!" Jim did his best trying to comfort her, but there was no point, this was all handled by Melinda. She didn't yell at him or hit him with anything at least. She just let her death grip do all the talking for her.

Melinda pushed hard... like insanely hard... like harder than she had ever done because Jim no longer had feeling in his left hand, and was counting his blessing that he wrote with his right.

Mel whimpered and cried and screamed and pushed as hard as she could for another ten minutes before finally, the sweet sound of a baby's cry filled the room.

Melinda fell back on the bed and exhaled incredibly thankful for it all being over now. Jim got his hand back just in time for the doctor to ask Jim of he wanted to cut the umbilical cord. Jim used his Right hand and got to take the first look at his new baby girl crying and being washed.

A few seconds later, the baby girl was handed to them in a little pick blanket wear a little pink hat.

Mel looked down at the little baby in her arms and her eyes filled with fresh tears. This was it. She was theirs now. Jim had the biggest smile plastered on his face as he stood next to Melinda looking at the beautiful baby in her arms.

She was small and cute, and had beautiful brown eyes just like her mother. And not a single feature belonging to her biological father which they were both silently thankful for.

Melinda was moved into a recovery room where they both sat and marvelled at the little tiny human. She was grasping onto Melinda's pinky finger and trying to fit it into her tiny little mouth.

"Yeah well... let's hope she doesn't have the death grip like you.." Jim said with a smile and a laugh displaying his 'battle wound' from the delivery room.

Mel smiled and laughed "I'm sorry...but I swear to god if you went through what I went through with absolutely no pain medication.. you would have been ten times worse..." Melinda sounded mock serious still a smile on her face looking from Jim to the little girl.

"Do you want to hold her?" Mel gave Jim a weak smile. She was really tired from the lengthy labour and the painful delivery but needed to stay awake to hear the prognoses from doctor Chase.

Mel handed the baby to Jim who cradled her head making happy and funny faces at her. Melinda laid her head back and felt the urge to fall asleep.

Just as she did this, her doctor stepped into their room.

"Well it looks like it's been a long day for both of you... She's happy and healthy! and now, Melinda i'm sure you're exhausted you could now go to sleep..." Jim thanked the doctor who left the room.

Melinda almost on contact with the pillow fell asleep leaving Jim some time to call the friends and family and let them know that the baby had arrived...


	7. Chapter 7

Jim walked out if Melinda's recovery room. He looked tired and drained and was hoping to catch some much needed shut eye before the friends and family showed up. Jim called Delia and Eli as well as Mel's mom and his. His mother had been touring Asia for a year and was right now in Thailand. He was happy to report that she was a grandmother of a little baby girl. Jim had tried to tell her that Mel was pregnant but getting into contact with her was always really difficult. This call was the first time he got to talk to her in months.

Faith was very surprised and congratulated Jim on being a daddy to a little girl. Jim snapped a photo of his precious little baby and sent it to her phone. She was in aww at the precious little bundle. Jim smiled at how excited his mom was to come home now and see her new granddaughter.

"Jim! I already love her! what's her name?" Faith sounded like she was she talking to some other people. Jim caught a few words she was saying to them and figured that she was showing the picture to some people.

"ummm actually mom we haven't had the chance to think of one... Mel's asleep right now so when we figure that out, I will call you okay?" Jim was having trouble hearing her now cause of all the people around her talking and awing at the baby he presumed.

"Alright Jim I look forward to knowing this beautiful baby's name so don't keep me waiting too long! love you bye!" Faith hung up the phone and Jim moved on to calling the Greene's. They would probably be interested in meeting their little friend.

"Yes ummm Janice this is Jim Clancy..." Jim felt a little awkward calling them, but he figured he would grow out of that faze.

"OH! Jim yes Hello how can I help you?" Janice sounded a little more dynamic on the phone now that she knew who was calling.

"Well I was just calling to let you know that exactly...an hour and a half ago the baby was born!" Jim checked his watch and smiled.

"REALLY?! wow! Ian! come here the baby's born!" Jim could hear Janice shuffling around with keys and things while Jim was still on the phone with her.

"Yes, shes at Rockland Memorial hospital, just go straight up to maternity shes in room 234" Jim smiled at how excited people were getting.

Jim instructed them to come a little later when Melinda was awake. He knew that of all people, she needed her rest.

Jim, who had packed some clothes for himself as well in the bag, took a quick shower in the hospital and changed clothes. He then took a seat in the recliner they set up in their room and slept.  
Their baby had been transported to the nursery for a proper wash and a little sleep. Two hours later Jim woke up to his wife nursing their daughter.

"Hey" Jim smiled and walked over to them.

"Hey" Mel whispered not wanting to disturb her baby from having a little drink.

Jim kissed his wife on the cheek, and Mel smiled.

"How was your sleep?" Jim felt refreshed from the nap he got and took a seat on the side of the bed.

"It was good, I'm still sore though.." Mel notice that she had finished nursing and so she buttoned up her gown and burped her.

"Yeah well... maybe they'll let you have the pain meds now!" Jim smiled satisfied with his very punny joke.

"Ha! nice... I'm glad I didn't pass out from the pain... just telling you...I now understand why everyone I asked had an epidural and why... I'm sure it would have been a breeze had they let me have it..." Jim laughed at how relieved Mel sounded.

"Well... at least we know for next time..." Jim smiled and winked at her.

"IF there is a next time..." Mel said it with caution as in to warn Jim that he will not be getting her pregnant...

Jim laughed and pulled Mel close to his body. Mel smiled and switched the position she was holding the baby in so Jim wouldn't accidentally crush her.

"Jim we still have to think of a name for this little girl..." Mel looked down at the baby, who was now starting to fall asleep.

Jim brushed the little baby's cheek with the back of his finger.

"yeah... any ideas?" Jim looked from the baby now falling asleep with a suss in her mouth to his tired looking wife.

"I always thought of naming my daughter after my grandmother... but she doesn't feel like a Mary... she feels different..." Mel looked down at her precious little girl.

Jim looked too, both trying to come up with name that symbolized everything they saw in her...

"Ava" Melinda looked down at the baby in her arms and then up at her husband seeking approval.  
Jim just smiled and nodded. "How did you figure Ava was the perfect name?" Jim saw nothing but love in this little baby.

"I see a voice in her eyes and the name means voice... I remember because I met a girl named Ava and she told me the meaning of her name." Mel smiled and looked back down at the little baby who was now given the name Ava.

"What about a middle name?" Jim looked at the precious bundle.

"Ava Grace" Melinda looked satisfied at the name she had given her daughter.

"Grace means good will, she is the voice of good will" Melinda smiled brushing her finger against the baby soft skin.

It was only a few minutes later, when the doctor came in the room with a smile on her face.

"Hey... we're here to collect her information. have you thought of a name?" The doctor whispered looking at the little baby sleeping.

Melinda smiled at the doctor. "Yeah we have actually!" Mel was surprised at how little time it took them.

The doctor handed the form to Jim and took a look at the baby.

"Well isn't she just precious! is she nursing well?" the doctor looked mesmerized by the bundle of joy in Mel's arms.

"Umm yeah she seems to be doing okay... When do you think I will be able to go home?" Mel sounded hopeful that since the baby was doing well she could be released soon.

"Well... were still have to examine her one more time, and we have to examine you as well, but we will let you have some visitors now if you are up to it.. there are a few people who want to see you three!" Doctor Chase left the room to go and tell their friends and family that they could come in.

Jim looked at the forms and started reading through them.

"Alright so are you sure about the name?" Jim looked at Mel seriously. This form would recognize her with this name.

"yeah I'm sure" Mel have her husband a smile and looked down at the baby.

"Ava Grace Clancy" Melinda stated happily.

Jim smiled and looked down at little Ava. She was already the love of his life.

Before he could continue some visitors came in to meet the newest member of their family.

Delia came in with a huge smile on her face. She was carrying a balloon with 'It's A GIrl!' written on it. She had a gift bag with her and was carrying her jacket.

Delia stepped around the bed and gave her best friend a huge hug. She flashed Jim a smile and placed the balloon on the ground in the corner.

"So where is my goddaughter?" Delia sounded really excited then saw the bassinet in the other corner of the room.

She walked over to it and looked down at the little baby sleeping with her suss.

"Oh My God! how precious! she's gorgeous Mel!" Delia watched the little baby's chest rise up and down watching her sleep soundly.

"Thanks shes our little surprise!" Melinda gave Delia a watery smile. The medication they had her on made her weepy, something she hated to do...

"Oh! are you okay? did something happen?" Delia looked from the baby to her friend.

"Naw! it's just the medication they're giving me makes me weepy..." Melinda wiped her eyes.

"Oh I see! why are you on medication now?" Delia asked curiously. Jim did not inform her that Melinda couldn't take the epidural, so this medication was prescribed by her doctor to help cope with the soreness that came without using pain management.

"Ummm since she was going to come early, when i got here they put me on this medication to help insure that her lungs would be developed enough... but.. the meds they gave me wouldn't work with an epidural so... I had to do it without pain medication.." Mel gave Delia a sarcastic smile. Although she wasn't pleased that she had to go through that experience with that much pain, but she was happy it was over.

"Oh My! you must be exhausted!" Gave Mel a surprised look. If she had given birth a few hours ago without any pain meds she would be dead tired today...

"Yeah well... I'm just sore and yah I guess you could say I'm exhausted i'm glad it's over... I feel like I could sleep for a month..." As if on queue she yawned revealing how tired she truly was... she looked over at her daughter and back at her friend...

"And I know it is just the beginning..." Mel laid her head back on her pillow relaxing a little.  
Delia gave her friend a sympathetic look. She couldn't imagine how exhausting it's going to be for her...

"Well.. don't even worry about the store! Ned and I have it covered! and if ever you feel too tired I'm just a phone call away!" Delia looked at her friend who had her eyes closed.

"Thank you!" Melinda said she was thankful for having helpful people in her life and knew that Jim and Delia would help.

Delia took the gift bag and put it on the bed. "Alright, I brought some stuff for you and for your little girl." Delia had a huge grin on her face.

Before she could take anything out the assuring sound of a baby's cry drifted into their ears.

"Umm.. Mel you want to hold her?" Mel sighed and smiled taking her baby girl in her arms.

Delia looked at her best friend and little girl in her arms. No matter how tired she was she still looked so happy and thankful for this precious gift.

Mel looked from her baby to Delia.

"Do you want to hold your niece?" Melinda smiled and looked at the baby she had been rocking and who had since calmed down started making little baby noises.

"Of Course!" Melinda passed the baby carefully to her.

"Hello little one!" Delia was making baby faces at her.

"Have you two thought of a name for this little one yet?" Delia looked down at her.

"Yeah Mel actually picked it out" Jim said with a smile looked down at his baby girl.

"Ava Grace Clancy" Melinda smiled caressing her baby's cheek.

"That's beautiful Mel! hello little Ava!" Delia had tears in her eyes.

"I can't believe shes real!" Delia was in aww at Ava.

"Her name means Voice of Good Will and that exactly how I see her!" Melinda smiled at her friend and then looked down at the little pink bundle.

Delia passed the baby back to Melinda, smiling down at the 'voice of Good Will'.

She started taking things out of the gift bag once more. She had brought several cute baby jumpers with things like 'mommy and daddy's little girl' and a bib that said 'my little mess maker' on it. Melinda laughed at the bib.

A few minutes later, a little boy came bursting in the room with a huge grin on his face.

Aiden came flying in and landed right on Melinda bed. Melinda moaned, the sourness of her body with the huge movements on the bed wasn't ideal for her quick healing.

Jim scowled at his son, who was being irresponsible with his actions. luckily the baby was in Jim's arms and was still sleeping peacefully.

Aiden didn't understand why he was being punished. He started crying feeling terrible for what he had done, even though he didn't even know what he had done wrong.

"Awww... come here baby! Melinda was still feeling very soar but wanted to spend time with her other baby to." Melinda motioned for him to come over on the bed.

Aiden walked over with a smile now on his face again.

"Gently" Jim warned his son not to shake the bed to much so his mother doesn't feel to soar.

Aiden got up on the bed as gently as he could.

Aiden cuddled closely to his mother. Feeling her comfort.

"Hey Aid there's someone we want you to meet..." Melinda gave him a warming smile.

Jim picked up the bundle and handed her to Melinda.

Mel held the baby and Aiden looked curiously at the little baby wrapped in a soft pink blanket.

"This is your new baby sister!" Melinda looked from her son to her baby girl.

Aiden looked at this little baby and touched her soft skin.

"Is she gonna like trucks?" Aiden was really interested in truck right now and didn't know what to ask.

the adults laughed at the curiosity of a five year old.

"I don't know maybe...but right now shes too small to play with trucks but maybe when shes older..." Melinda smiled at her son.

"What's her name?" Aiden looked amazed at his sister. She was awake now again and moving around looking at her brother.

Mel looked at the baby, "Her name is Ava Grace."

Aiden smiled "I like her name" Aiden looked at his dad who smiled.

Delia smiled at Aiden and got up from the chair she had been sitting in. She said her goodbyes and hugged Melinda and Jim one last time before saying goodbye to Ava and leaving.

As Delia was leaving Beth, Melinda's mother came in to see the baby.

"Mommy can I hold her?" Aiden was still staring at his baby sister.

"Of course! but I'm gonna help you here okay?" Melinda gave her son instructions to support her head and back.

Melinda placed her sons first hand and put it under the baby's head. She took his second hand and put it on her back. Melinda still kept her hands on the baby for protection.

Beth looked at the baby in aww. She was there to see the baby and take Aiden home. He understood that he couldn't stay and his parents and baby sister were going to be home in a few days.

Melinda hugged her son and kissed him on the head. He hopped down from the bed as Beth handed the baby back to Melinda. She hugged Mel and Jim and said goodbye and took Aiden's hand. Aid went to hug his dad then they both left.

Their poor baby boy was crying when he left, not wanting to leave his parents.

Once all the visitors were gone, Jim got a phone call. It was Janice and Ian, they called and said they woulld be arriving tomorrow. Jim understood and told Mel the news.

Within the hour all three were fast asleep after that eventful day they had.


	8. Chapter 8

It was the next day, Mel could really feel the pain now which was weird to her... She thought that time would help make the pain less intense but she woke up feeling pretty miserable.

The medication that she had been on to help with the pain was still in her IV but it seemed ineffective compared to the almost blinding pain that she felt all over her body.

"Awwww" Mel was trying to shift on the bed hearing the baby cry but couldn't move and whimpered in response.

Jim woke hearing the baby and saw his wife almost in tears.

"Hey! Mel what's going on? What happened?" Jim looked concerned.

"it's nothing... I'm in a lot of pain... I don't think the meds are working anymore..." Mel whimpered and started crying.

"Alright Mel I'm going to go find a doctor okay?" Jim rushed out if the room to find the first doctor he could see.

Doctor Chase was talking to a nurse when Jim came rushing for her.

"Excuse me, sorry to interrupt but Melinda is in a lot of pain would you mind checking it out?" Jim sounded a little worried.

"Oh yes! of course!" Dr. Chase rushed over to Melinda's room with Jim leading the way.

Dr. Chase went straight to Melinda's bedside and started asking her questions.

"Alright Melinda, can you tell whereabouts it hurts or is it everywhere?" Dr. Chase tried to visualize the problem by simply looking at her patient.

"Everywhere.." Melinda muttered in so much pain she could barely speak.

"Okay..." started putting pressure her abdomen which caused Mel to cry.

Jim hated to see her in so much pain.

Dr. Chase looked worried which didn't help Jim feel any better.

The doctor asked Jim to follow him out of the room.

Jim was really scared, usually when the doctor asks for a private conversation, then it was serious.

Dr. Chase furrowed her brow and looked up at Jim.  
"Well.. I'd like to do some tests on your wife, shes in really bad pain and I'm going to order an ultrasound of her appendix and her uterus I also want a blood sample."Dr. Chase was scribbling some stuff down on Melinda's chart.

Jim looked a little flustered and signed the consent document.

He went back into the room to see his wife whimpering in pain.

"Alright Mel their going to do an ultrasound and they also want to take a blood sample...don't worry Mel.." Jim sat down in the chair and kissed her hair.

Mel couldn't move she was unable to move from the position she was in,

A few minutes later Dr. Chase came back with an ultrasound machine.

Dr. Chase helped Melinda move to flat on her back. She whimpered with the slightest move. Once she was on her back the doctor turned on the machine and placed the probe onto her stomach.

Melinda winced feeling the pressure on her abdomen.

Jim held her hand trying to help comfort her. He was doing his best to comfort her but couldn't help but think that he was in this situation only two days ago, when she was giving birth. But, this time he wasn't expecting a little baby to show up. He was hoping his wife would be okay...

"Alright Melinda, let's see here..." moved the probe around her uterus looking closely at the image on the screen.

"Okay.. so what's happening Melinda is your uterus is contracting and releasing and I'm not sure why... I'm pretty sure that it thinks that there is still a baby in there and trying to get it out... but I don't think it would cause this much pain..." Dr. Chase continued moving the probe around to look at every aspect of her abdomen, ensuring that there was no other abnormality.

"Well I think we're going to take that blood sample and put you on a higher dose of pain medication for now...I should have the tests in a couple hours..." Doctor Chase left the room quickly walking directly out of the recovery ward.

Shortly after, a nurse came in with another type of pain medication. Jim was thankful for everything happening so quickly and not having his wife suffer here miserably.

Within an hour Melinda had calmed down... She was still in some pain but it hurt much less than before...

Another hour later Doctor Chase came in with the test results.  
"Well, Melinda it reads here that you are pregnant!" Mel gave her a confused and irritated look. Jim looked lost and doubtful.

Doctor Chase laughed and smiled "Well you really aren't pregnant anymore, but for some reason your body is having trouble regulating it's hormones...your body still believes you are in labour...that is why your uterus is still contracting and your blood tests have come back determining that you are pregnant, with high hormone levels..."

The couple looked relieved.

"So.. what do we do now?" Jim still looked confused.

"Well... we're going to have to wait it out... if in three hours or so it doesn't get any better we will have to give you whats called a stopping medication, it freezes you from the chest down to stop most of the pain. It's used with C-section patients, and from my twelve years in medicine, none of my C-section patients have complained about it..." Dr. Chase gave them a reassuring smile.

Jim thanked the doctor for her time and returned to Melinda's side.

"How yah holden up there Mel?" Jim sounded a tad concerned.

"I hate this..." was all Melinda could say. She was lying on her side in the foetal position. She was pale and a lot thinner than someone who had given birth recently should be. But, Doctor Chase did warn them that the side effects of pain medication combined with the body trying to regulate the hormone levels could result in loss of weight and loss of appetite.

Jim giggled at the mere irony of the whole situation. Here he was holding his wife's hand  
as she is once again in 'labour pain' somehow he knew it...

"Hey at least this time you got pain meds!" Jim smiled and laughed at his own joke.

"Mel looked up at him and scowled... yeah... would you like to switch places with me?" Mel sounded irritated.

Jim put his hand up as to say he surrendered. "Alright I get it I wouldn't survive the pain... but it'll all be numb in a bit honey okay?"

Mel gave him a sarcastic smile as to say...'yeah go take a hike this is never going to be over..'.

An hour later the meds were beginning to ware off and Melinda was beginning to whimper again... she could barely handle it the fist time... but for some reason, her body thought she could handle it a second time... At least the first time she was having a baby... this time is just a cruel joke...  
Jim had gone to get some food for himself and hoped to share some of it with Melinda... She looked pale and almost like she was starving herself, not her fault though.

Jim walked into the room with some food, he had gone out to the market to get it because there was no way he was eating hospital food for the third night in a row...

He bought a sandwich and brought some fruit up for him and Mel to share. When he got to the room she was lying there in pain. He felt so helpless having to watch her hurt like this. He hoped that this would all be over soon.

When he walked in he noticed a nurse with the bassinet containing their daughter.

"Shes back from her daily weigh in..." the nurse smiled at Jim who picked up the precious bundle.

"Alright thank you" Jim held her in his arms bouncing her watching her look around and notice everything, including her mother in pain... He felt bad for her having to see Mel like that but then he moved around so all she could see was him.

His little girl stared at him in aww and curiosity. jim made little baby noises before she started to get fussy.

"Mel I know you're in pain but I was just wondering if you were up to nursing Ava?" Jim was walking on a tightrope trying not to upset her in this much pain.

"Have the nurse get you a bottle... you can feed her okay?" Melinda whimpered at just having to speak.

Jim fetched a nurse who brought him a bottle. He fed Ava watching her eat peacefully. Afterwords, she had fallen asleep, so he carefully placed her in the bassinet beside the bed.

Jim took the food he had bought and placed it on the table beside the bed.

He took the apple slices he had bought for them and ate one.

"Mel you haven't eaten in a while... you want some apple?" Jim looked at his wife sympathetically.

Just by the sight of the apple, Melinda started gagging.  
Jim brought the bucket up just in time for her to throw up bile mixed with blood.

Since her stomach was empty, she was unable to throw anything up... she whimpered from the movement while she finished puking and fell onto the bed once again.

Jim went to find Doctor Chase who, was heading in his direction anyway.

"Is she by chance feeling any better with the medication?" Doctor chase sounded hopeful.

"No, shes still doing bad... she looks really pale and thin and now shes throwing up bile because theres nothing in her stomach to throw up..." Jim gave the doctor a concerned look.

"Okay so we'll get the stopping medication.. we'll start with a smaller does, just because with switching medications like this one it's best to start small and work your way up.

Jim felt relieved and headed back to the room. Before entering he realized that he had forgot to call the Greene's and tell them that they should come another time. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and called the number they had given him.

"Hello?"

"Yes, hello is this Ian Greene?"

"No... this is their son Jason..."


	9. Chapter 9

Who is this?" the son of a bitch on the other line wasn't in Little Rock after all.

Jim hung up and shoved his phone in his pocket. He couldn't believe it... they had them fooled. But for what? So that crazy man could keep stalking his wife? So he could try and hurt her again?! He felt like he could kill him! He couldn't tell Mel about this now... she was in so much pain simply got back into the room and comforted his whimpering wife.

Shortly after A nurse came in and started her on the new medication that was supposed to numb her from the chest down.

After an hour or so it took full effect and Melinda could move again. Although it was different because she couldn't feel anything passed her chest. It felt great though, She could finally sit up and move around without feeling this constant pain everywhere.

"Hey honey feeling any better?" Jim rubbed his wife's shoulders.

"Yes actually I feel a lot better... but I can no longer feel anything from the chest down... but other than that yeah these meds are fantastic!" Melinda sounded a whole lot better.

A few hours passed and Doctor Chase came in to see how her patient was doing?

"Shes doing really well... She loves the new medication and doesn't feel any more pain!" Jim smiled the much he could... He just wanted her better and his family together again.

"Okay then now in a couple hours we have to take her off the meds... we don't like to keep them on them to long because they can mess with your immune system.. and I would like Melinda to eat something...She hasn't eaten in two days and she had lost all her baby weight plus some which is not good for a new mother... she needs to keep producing milk so we want to get her off as soon as possible..." Dr. Chase was honest and knew that the meds could interfere with her patient.

"Do you know if she is going to be in pain again if you take her off the meds?" Jim didn't want Mel to relapse into more pain...

"Well that is why I am here... first we are going to do an ultrasound and afterwords I will take some blood... if everything is all clear then shes as good as new! if not... we will have to give her another round of stopping medication... but really I'd rather not... as thin as she is already...Dr Chase instructed Melinda to lie flat on her back.  
the doctor turned on the machine once more and saw that her uterus was no longer contracting which was a good sign!  
Afterwords, she took some of her blood and left.

They both fell asleep Jim lying in Mel's bed with her and Mel leaning her head on his shoulder.  
It was the next morning, they were both woken up by Doctor chase who had alerted Melinda that her blood came back normal and that overnight they had slowly weaned her off the stopping medication and now she wasn't on anything at all.  
Mel felt really good for the first time in some time! she didn't feel much pain, just the occasional soar muscle from giving birth a few days ago.  
Mel was walking now and stretching which Jim was relived about. Ava was growing little by little and she was now the appropriate weight a newborn should be for exiting the hospital.  
The one thing left to do was finish filling out the baby's paperwork. Jim grabbed a pen and started filling it out next to Mel.

"Alright so who are we putting down as the godfather?" Jim looked from Mel to the baby in her arms.

"Do you want to put Eli as the godfather?" Mel asked questioningly.

"yeah sure he sounds like he's already taken a liking to her anyways and this would be his first god child... why not!" Jim wrote down Eli and moved on to the other information.

Once they got to biological parents Jim felt concerned... Mel do I put down my name here... or do I put IT down as the birth father?... Is it legal to lie on these things?" Jim looked worried and knew that of the Greene's planning in staying in their lives for what he thinks they want then they will bring it to court... and in turn examine Ava's birth record... which means if they lied and there is a paternity test in front of them... it won't look so good in front of a judge...  
"Jim there is no way in hell I am putting his name down anywhere on that paper!" Mel was very sure that the court would allow his name to be put down instead of the guy who raped her... and in any amount of trials they would most likely win due to their son being mentally unstable.  
Jim was now reassured.  
After signing the discharge paper, they were finally free to go! which was a big relief for them both. Being cooped up in a hospital wasn't their first idea of how to start off a life with a new baby girl.  
They picked up Aiden from Beth's house and drove home.

Once Jim pulled in the driveway he saw the most despicable people he could ever meet...Mel was still unaware of what was going on because he didn't want to worry her about this while she was still sensitive.  
"Mel stay in the car with the kids okay?" Jim didn't leave his eyes from the couple standing on his porch.  
"Jim whats going on here?" Mel was getting anxious and scared what was he not telling her?  
"Mel just keep the kids in the car okay? I just need to talk to them alone..." Jim left his wife and kids in the car and went directly to the porch no breaking contact with either of them.  
"What do you to want from us?" Jim had anger in his voice.

"We've come to see the baby..." the couple was playing dumb.

Jim decided to get right to the point. "I called the number you gave me yesterday... only Your son picked up... what are your not telling us? and why is he answering your phone? If he is still in full contact with you... then the deal is off..." Jim sounded very angry, these people had the nerve to walk into their lives with entitlement and now they feel like they can just do whatever they want.

"Oh My!... well I guess we should be honest... We're helping him out, he talked us out of sending him to Little Rock and now he's living in our penthouse in Manhattan... He promised us he would clean up, and he's still attending therapy, anger management and now he's medicated...We didn't know what else to do with him... he was threatening our lives...we told him about the baby... but by court he knows that he is not allowed to anywhere near any of you so... he knows and still wants us to be part of it's life..." The Greene's were quiet now waiting for a judgment call by Jim.

"NO... I am not bringing a dangerous man into ours lives and definitely not letting you two be part of her life... we had an agreement, and you promised that he would be far away and would not even hear about her... so please get the hell off of my property and the hell out of our lives...NOW!" Jim pointed to the road as to say that they are no longer welcome there...

"Now hold on... don't we have rights? like grandparent rights or something?" Mr. Greene was hoping to scare Jim into letting them see her.

"You have no rights in this situation do you understand... your son has put us all through hell and I refuse to let you two do it again...Goodbye." Jim turned away and walked towards the car containing the rest of his family.

He saw the Greene's start their car and get in driving off. That is when Jim finally spoke, Mel was freaking out which wasn't great for someone in her condition.

"Jim what the hell is going on?" Mel whispered so as to not frighten Aiden or their baby who was now peacefully sleeping.

"Mel I will tell you everything later but for now let's just get them inside okay?" Jim assured her and opened the doors so Aiden could get out.  
He ran inside and straight up his room to unpack all the cool things him and grandmother had made.

Once Mel brought Ava in and laid her down in her nursery, the couple sat down.

"What the hell was that!" Mel was tired and stressed and was pretty pissed off with the way he treated the Greene's.

"Well... I called the number they gave me and someone else picked up... that someone was Jason... he never went to Little Rock and he's still in New York... He's actually living in the penthouse the Greene's own... and he knows about the baby... They told him about the paternity test and they still wanted visual rights... so I told them that they violated the rules we made to protect our family, so I told them to leave... Mel I'm concerned this family is really unstable and I don't want to take any chances..." Jim was sitting in the dining room across from Melinda.  
Mel had tears in her eyes and had a look of concern on her face.

"What should we do? Tell the police?" Mel looked alarmed she really just wanted this family to leave her and her family alone...

"Yes, but I was also thinking that maybe it would be better if we moved someplace different... the family knows where we live... they all seem pretty insane and we know they can't fight us for any legal rights so... I know it would be hard because we have family here and your store and Delia and Eli but i think it could be better for us to move someplace else..." Jim didn't expect his wife to agree, he was expecting a heated discussion ending in them staying there, but he had recently been offered a job at a private clinic in California. He had some family there and a few of his friends who he did residency with moved there afterwords...

"Are you sure that moving is the only solution to this problem?" Mel sounded dead serious like she was testing him.

"I'm not saying it's the only solution, I'm saying it is A solution... it's possible and could be good to try some place different... It's all up to you.. if you feel that we should stay.. we can stay..."

Melinda looked worriedly at her husband. Was this the only solution to getting rid of the Greene's... Mel gave Jim a serious look.

"I really don't want to leave..." Mel had a tear in her eye... she was being honest with him, she felt truly wanted here. Her and Jim had built a life here with Aiden and were planning on building on those memories with Ava... She had a life here with Delia and Eli being part of that and her store... She couldn't believe she was even considering it but she knew that the best way to protect herself and her family was to indeed consider moving to some place new.

Jim saw how emotional Melinda was getting over the mention of changing locations and approached her to console his poor wife.

"Mel if you don't want to move we don't have too... It was just a suggestion, if you wish to stay then we'll stay!" Jim gave her a hug and kissed her on the cheek.

"No... I don't want to go... but we have to go..." Mel looked heartbroken. Just, as she said that the phone rung. Jim picked it up.

"Hello?" Jim answered putting one hand on his wife's shoulder as to show that he was still comforting her.

"Yes, Hello am I speaking to Jim?" The voice sounded like a women, it definitely sounded familiar.

"Yes..." Jim was skeptical to guess who it was.  
"Perfect! this is detective Blair speaking... I just got you're messages that Jason Greene isn't where he was intended to be... we are tracking his whereabouts but it seems that he must have ran after his parents broke contact with you two... I would like to talk to you four about a different program ensuring complete and confidential protection..." Blair stopped there as to await a response, permitting for her to present her option.

"Yes..." Jim had an inquisitive look on his face and furrowed his brows, which was only something he did when he was deeply thinking, or listening.

"Well, As this family is nowhere to be found and could turn up anywhere trying to get close to you, and as all of them seem to have some sort of psychotic problem, you and your closest friends and family are entitled to entering the witness protection program... this program makes your identity records sealed to everyone even some branches of the federal bureau aren't allowed breaching witness protection files... as they are sealed. This is only for yours and the protection of those you feel this delusional man would try and manipulate or torture in order to find you... We want to make it as difficult as possible for this guy to find you! And I know this man is very is very good at tracking

people and he seems to know and understand the law very well... so that is why we want to offer you protection from this crazy man..., now it is up to you, you are not forced to take it, it's not mandatory but we would like you to consider it..." Blair sounded very aware and understood how difficult a decision like this would be for them to make, but since they had already contacted them once, there was no knowing when they would turn up again...

"ummm... we were just discussing an idea similar to this one, to move somewhere completely new, where there is a lower chance of him finding us... but we will take this under consideration as well... it seems to be a good idea..." Jim hung up the phone after they both said goodbye and proceeded to sit back down in the kitchen.

"Alright Mel, we have a lot to talk about... either way were moving though... Detective Blair has offered to us witness protection as well as al our family and friends we consider to be threatened by this man to try and get to us... out records would be sealed as would, all those part of this dilemma... so... it's either we leave or we al leave together...Blair seems to think witness protection is a good idea..." Jim looked solemnly at his wife knowing the response he'll get from her...

"I can't believe he did this... he managed to destroy my trust my safety and now my home... I'm gonna kill him if I ever dare to see his fuckin face again..." Mel was shaking her head at the mere volume of this entire situation.

"I know Mel, I think we should do it... for you and for Aiden and Delia and your mom... these people are at risk to! don't you think we owe it to them to try and protect them... this sin't a ghost.. this man is sick in the brain and living somewhere the police don't even know... so the safe thing to do would be to tell Blair that we want the witness protection..." Jim got up from the table and dialled the detective's number. He was confident that this was the right choice. He knew that if he was going to keep his family together, he needed to make the decision.  
He spoke with her briefly before hanging up.

"Mel, Blair's going to call our friends and family... shes giving us a month to get our things together and say our goodbyes... afterwords we leave..." Jim put the phone on the cradle.

"Where?" was all Mel managed to say.

"Someplace in England, she says we can choose the town... but the country evidently has been decided by her... it had to be out of the United States due to the fact that the Greene family has business's, friends and relatives all over this country, so to maintain a safe distance she wants us out of the America. England is nice, they speak English there and we both have family there! Weren't you even born there or something?" Jim was moving around starting to figure out how they would move all these things...

"Yeah I was...in Surrey...I guess we should get packing..." Mel regretfully got up from where she was sitting and pulled the chair in.

if on cue, the sounds of a baby's cries filled the house.

"I'll get her..." Mel ran up the stairs to her little Ava'a room. When she got there her face lit up, Mel always smiled when either of her kids were around. She loved them both so much! and that is when she realized that she needed to do this.. to protect her sleeping son and her very much awake baby girl.

"i'm coming baby!" Mel smiled as she looked down at the fussy girl, with tears in her eyes, almost like she was feeling what her mother was feeling on the inside.

"Why are you cry my little angle" Mel was speaking in baby talk, which wasn't her favourite thing to do before she had kids, but now it was her second language.  
Mel had picked her up and was cradling her new born who seemed to be fussing. Mel noticed the changed and assumed that it was because she was hungry. Mel fed her singing soft lullabies to her and caressing her soft baby smooth skin.  
After a few minutes of nursing, she was asleep. Mel put her shirt down and placed the sleeping form back in her crib.

Jim came up and saw Mel placing the baby back in her crib and came up behind her hugging her from behind

"Snug as a bug in a rug!" Jim watched as Mel smiled down at their precious bundle. Jim smiled and kissed his wife's cheek.

"Bed time for everyone..." Jim led her to their bedroom where slept as peacefully as they could, it was going to be a long journey ahead for them..


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 Never Give Up

It was one week later, the news of her abrupt forced displacement had finally sunk in. She was sad to say the least... Grandview had been their home for years... and she had friends here, as did her son. Now they would basically have to start all over again, which was easier before she had a family. Mel stayed in the same position in bed, staring out the window at the lovely view of the typical Saturday morning in Grandview. It was peaceful and small, the most charming little town she had ever come across, and now she had to leave it. The wind blew softly and gently through the open window caressing her skin and wrapping her in scents of warm summer mornings. Before she could dwell on her thought too long, the sound of Ava brought her back to reality. She had been getting up every four hours to comfort the little angel as she had developed a nasty fever, which was unusual for the summer time. Mel let out a sigh and headed toward the little girls room.

"Hello princess! tell mummy whats wrong?" Mel smiled at the baby who was probably just hungry. She was a small baby, so the more she ate the happier Mel was for her daughter eating and getting the nutrients she needs.

"Come here baby!" Mel lifted up the tiny infant and held her in her arms. She kissed the small bundle that had now stopped crying. Mel sat down at the rocking chair located in the corner of the nursery and rocked the little one as she nursed her.

A few minutes later, Jim had woken up seeing an empty left side of the bed. This was typical since Ava had been brought home. He felt guilty for not getting up as often as Mel had been, but he had been working doubles, covering for his friend who was now going through mild chemotherapy treatments. He was his mentor and Jim felt it was the least he could do for all the knowledge he had given to him. Besides he thought they needed the money, with a new baby and all the expenses that come with moving half way across the world... Jim stretched and proceeded to head to Ava's room where he knew his wife would be. surely enough she was there, nursing their daughter.

"Good Morning my two beautiful girls!" Jim leaned over and gave Mel a kiss good morning, then did the same to Ava, who was falling asleep once again.

Mel yawned in response. "Good Morning..." Jim smiled at her and took Ava from her arms placing her back in her crib.

"I think she needs a few more hours of sleep ... and so do you!" Jim helped Mel out of the rocking chair and guided her towards their bedroom.

While both his girls slept, Jim decided he would help out his wife, by managing the house a little bit. He started by cleaning up the kitchen and making breakfast for Aiden, who had since woken up.  
"Morning Daddy!" Aiden walked down the hall and sat at his little table where he usually ate his breakfast.

"Morning Aid, how was your sleep?" Jim gave their son a half smile as he saw him rub his tired eyes.

"It was okay I guess... I dreamed that optomous prime and bumblebee were battling Darth Vader... and they won because they took his light sabre!"

Jim laughed and served his son cereal in a bowl. Leave it to Aiden to dream of something like that...

"Well bud you feel like helping your daddy out today? Have a guys day!" Jim wanted Aiden to help him clean up a little bit, so that they could get things done faster, before Mel woke up.

"Okay! where is mommy?" Aiden looked curious, usually his mom was up before him...

"Mommy was up a lot last night with your sister, so were going to let her sleep in today. okay? so no bothering her. Were going to help out mommy by doing some cleaning. we'll start with the living room, which I am sure is cluttered with your toys" Jim gave his son a guessing look as Aiden smiled and munch on his Honey Nut Cheerios.

After their breakfast the two boys started organizing things, and cleaning up Aiden's toys.

"Old rug we don't really use anymore... keep, mommy's shop or toss?" Jim pointed to an old rug that Melinda had gotten when the house was just being renovated, she wanted to have some sense of a house when there wasn't much of one.

"ummm... I think we should toss it... it looks really dirty... and smelly" Aiden held his nose like any five year old would and went back to putting his toys back in his toy box.

"Yeah your probably right about this one..." Jim tossed the rug into the trash bag and picked up something else. It was one of Melinda's old photo albums... he hadn't seen it before, and it was at the back of the closet which meant it wasn't that important, or she had forgotten about it. Jim flipped through a few pages, most were her and her friends from Paris when she lived there for two years... but when he got to the back he saw that there were pictures of her and 'him'. He was smiling and all over her... which would've been nothing to him if he didn't hate him with a passion. Jim took the pictures with Kyle in them and put them in the trash pile. He then looked at them and decided on burning them. "This way he will be be burned from our lives..."

Once the two were finished with the living room, they moved on to the dining room which was cluttered with financial papers... and some statements from Melinda's store. Jim decided that Aiden could take a break from cleaning, because he was useless going through all these papers... and he had been a big help with the living room, so his play time was well deserved. Jim glanced at the papers... "Bills, bills,bills..." He then noticed something interesting at the end of the table. It was a check from the Greene's, the one they had sent after Melinda assured them that she didn't want their money. They may have been well off, but they were still crazy. Jim took the check and put it in his pocket, he didn't want to cash the check in case they decided to bring them to court and testify that they had given them a some of money. The rest was mostly bank papers about Melinda's store. She had recently and reluctantly put her store up for sale, she hated doing that... and could understand... after spending that much time growing a store from a small hole in the wall to a giant Antique store that attracted thousands of tourists and locals... it would be really hard to let go. He tidied things up and ran the vacuumed through the floor. He thought getting all this stuff done would be less prep work they would have to do for showing the house.

As if on queue, Melinda came down to see a shining and tidy house. "Wow! this looks great, thank you so much!" she looked better, definitely less tired then before.

"Yep! Aiden and I worked on it all morning to make it look nice for you! right Bud?" Aiden who was playing race cars lifted his head and smiled.

"Yeah! I cleaned up all my toys for you!" Aiden went back to racing his cars, while Jim smiled lovingly at his wife.

Melinda came up and kissed him deeply. She was definitely no longer tired... Jim kissed her back holding her tightly in his arms. I know its been a rough few days for you... for all of us but especially for you. So I wanted to make it a little easier for you... so?"

Melinda smiled and looked into his beautiful eyes. "I Love you, you know that?" Mel smiled.

"I love you too, now would you like some breakfast?" Jim pointed to the fruit salad he had made.

"Oh! he even had time to make breakfast for me, how wonderful!" Mel smiled and kissed her husband once again giggling.

"Well I wanted to do something nice for you... I know you've been up and down a lot for Ava and Aiden... so think of this as an appreciation gift, and I know i've been at work a lot filling in for Stephenson so I thought I would help manage things here for a change" Jim smiled serving his wife a bowl of the fruit salad he had made.

"I ate some, it's actually pretty good! Aid had his cereal..." Jim looked as Melinda tasted his creation.

"Mmmm it's actually good" Melinda giggled as Jim gave her a sly response to her sarcastic remark.

"So what's happening today?" Jim asked Mel.

"Wow someone's eager... and well I have to go sign some papers over at the bank...then go to the store to do some appraisal, Oh I almost forgot! Aid has a soccer game at three! can you take him to that?" Mel said between bites of breakfast.

"Yep! I was planning on finishing up the clean up upstairs now that your awake... and then I guess I'll take him to his game!" Jim looked away from the calendar and back at Melinda.

"umm... Mel what do you want to do about the cheque from the Greene's?" Jim took the paper from his pocket and showed it to Melinda.

"Tare it up... I'm not using one bit of that crazy family's money..." Melinda mumbled bitterly.

"okay... just to clarify you didn't deposit it right?" Jim looked seriously at Mel.

"No! haven't even thought about it! why?" Mel looked confused.

"Just making sure... the more we have of theirs the better case they can build if the parents ever want to sue for rights..." Jim ripped up the cheque.

"Jim they are all crazy...Once detective Blair catches them... they are all going to prison... they harboured a fugitive and helped him escape from a mental institution... there is no way they won't be sent to prison!" Mel was getting irritated at the fact that she still has to live with this months after the original sentencing.

" I know... but with the money and lawyers they have anything is possible... I am just being cautious thats all" Jim kissed Mel on the cheek and returned to cleaning the house.

Mel finished eating and got up to take a shower and get ready for the day. She hopped in the shower and let the hot stream of water hit her...Melinda sighed and quickly cleaned herself while decompressing.

After getting dressed and doing her hair and makeup, Mel went to her daughters room, where Jim was sitting rocking her softly.

"Did she wake up?" Mel looked concerned.

"Yeah... she needed a change and a feed, it's okay I did it." Jim smiled down at the little baby in his arms. She was so precious and small. He truly was blessed to have her.

"Okay... do you want to keep her for the day? I don't feel like bringing her around with a small fever..." Mel felt the little baby's forehead. It still felt a little warm.  
"Yeah I'll watch her don't worry Mel! I'm home today and all I'm going to be doing is cleaning... Oh! and Aiden's soccer game! but I'm sure I can bring her to that! it might be good to have her get some vitamin D" Jim looked at the little girl who was now struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Okay... call me if there is anything... and don't throw any of my inventory into the trash!" Mel laughed and kissed him goodbye, before heading down the stairs and off to the bank.

After the long and uneventful trip to the bank, Mel got in her car happy to be out of there and now on route to her lovely store. She missed it there! it had been a while since she had been there so it was good for her to get out and make some money!"

Mel unlocked the doors and turned the lights on revealing the many antiques that had been put on display. For the time being, Delia had been running the shop, but now she was back! and boy was she glad!

Mel examined some of the things people had brought in, and got caught up on some inventory, enjoying the beautiful things a women by the name of Pam had brought in.

Over the next few hours, Mel received many costumers, including a few regulars who brought by gift for Ava.

Mel smiled and thanked them for the lovely gifts and purchases they had made. I was around three thirty when Mel decided to call it quits, she decided she would go catch the end of Aid's soccer game to be with Jim and Ava, and see her son play. Although it was cute, the soccer wasn't exactly amazing entertainment most of the time she just chatted with the other parents.

Mel got in her car and noticed a silver car that seemed to be following her. It seemed familiar but she couldn't quite out her finger on it. Then it dawned on her. Kyle. He was following her. Mel sprung into action dialling detective Blair's number and praying that he didn't confront her.

After three rings Blair picked up. Mel was trying to calm herself and looked in her rear view mirror just to be sure that it was indeed him that was behind her.

"Detective Blair! it's Melinda... I have a problem...he's following me! and i'm scared to get out of the car I just keep driving around in circles hoping he'll loose me! what do I do?! Help me!" Mel was almost hysterical why couldn't this guy just leave her alone and get away from her family!

"Okay Melinda I know this is scary... but here's what you need to do. I need you to drive around the square. police have already been dispatched and are in pursuit of the car following your red SUV correct?" Mel said yes. "Okay! now you are sure it's him?" Mel looked back and saw his creepy smile. "YES I am one hundred percent sure that it's him!" Mel was tearing up. "Okay now can you give me any other details about the car? like what colour it is or maybe what type of car it is?" Mel had tears coming down her face. "It's a silver Honda, I can't see a license plate from here..." Mel was trying to breathe through the fear that was building up inside her.

"Okay that's helpful thank you Melinda, now how far are you from town square?" Blair sounded very professional, almost like she had done this thousands of times.

" ummmm... probably around ten minutes away..." Mel wiped her eyes trying to make sure she could see.

"Alright now it there anything specific on the car? any sort of scratches or cracks anywhere?"

Mel checked her rear view mirror and tried to hide the phone so he wouldn't discover she was on the phone.

"Ummm there's a crack in his right headlight... and he's got a front plate with Tasmanian Devil on it..." Mel couldn't see any other damage to the car.

"Already Mel we have police following behind... discreetly if her tries anything they will catch him alright... other than that meet us at the square and we'll take it from there."

Blair sounded sure... which Mel was thankful for.

"Okay" before Mel could finish her sentence, the silver car rammed her throwing her head forward and causing her to bang her head on the windshield.

"Mel what's happened!? what's going on?!" Blair was worried. The only thing she could hear were the sound of police sirens which wasn't a good thing.

Blair radioed one of the officers in pursuit. "Wallens this is Blair I have lost contact with the victim can you fill me in?"

Blair was getting anxious. "Yes, Mame the silver Honda that had been following her, rammed into her really hard... Carter and Fullman are already in pursuit we're driving up to see if the victim is okay.

Melinda was now only mildly conscious, she couldn't really focus and felt disoriented.

"Blair, victim seems to be disoriented and has suffered and extreme head trauma. Both cars have been pulled over."

"Good keep me posted on victims condition...shes a good friend..."

"Well, the drivers name is Tanner Greene looks exactly like our perp...he claims he doesn't know him though.."

"Of course he's gonna say that...bring him back here! how is the victim doing?"

"She passed out ambulance is transporting her to the hospital now."

"Alright, I will contact the family good job guys." Blair immediately picked up her cell phone and contacted Jim.

"Hello?" Jim was currently at Aiden's soccer game carrying Ava in his arms.

" Jim? This is detective Blair... you need to get to Rockland Memorial Hospital as soon as possible ... there's been an accident..." Blair hated giving these phone calls, but she felt like she owed it to them.

"Jim immediately hung up the phone and asked one of Aiden's teammates mother's to watch him while he went to see Melinda.

He couldn't have moved fast enough, and to him it was all a blur. He strapped Ava and and went speeding toward the hospital without a second thought.

He was met by a police officer, who showed him to where Melinda was being examined. She was somewhat conscious now but the severe head trauma she suffered cause her to be disoriented and caused her blood pressure to drop.

"MEL!" Jim handed Ava to one of the cops and rushed to Mel's side. She looked pretty out of it.

"Jim? this is your wife?" a doctor stepped into the examination room noticing her fellow staff member present.

"Yeah...please tell me there's good news..." Jim stood up from where he had been examining his wife.

"Well... she hit her head pretty hard, so of course there will be some confusion, disorientation and of course a concussion. She also needed fourteen stitches in her forehead from the windshield glass shattering and cutting her. But, other than that, she seemed to have been well protected by her seat belt.

"Thank you doctor Grant." Jim shook her hand and she gave him a solemn look.

A few minutes later Melinda came through. She looked pretty banged up but it was better than her being passed out.  
"Hey Mel! I'm so glad your okay! what happened?!" Mel looked a little lost, which he expected and he silently scolded himself for asking all those questions to her right away.

"What happened to me?" Mel asked holding her head in her hands.

"Well, you were rear ended by Tanner Greene, crazy's cousin... he was following you and he hit you from behind... you hit your head on the windshield." Jim was stroking her head lovingly.

"So that's why it feels like a have a Massive hangover!" Mel smiled and pushed herself upwards into a seated position.

Jim smiled, but still had a look of concern on his face.

"Did they catch the cousin?" Mel asked hopeful for one positive outcome.

Jim sighed..." Yeah they did... but Mel that was a close one... you know that this could have been more serious... these people are insane. The whole family is. We need to be careful... at least until we leave..." Jim sighed frustrated at how powerless he was in this situation.

"I know...he must have seen me on the phone and panicked..." Mel held her hands against her head.

As if on queue, Delia came bursting into Melinda's exam room with a worried expression on her face.

"Mel! OH MY GOD I'm so glad you're okay!" Delia was holding Ava who was fussing in her arms.

"Detective Blair called me and told me you had been in an accident! I got so worried!" Delia's same expression was still plastered across her face.

"I'm okay Delia... just a concussion and some stitches... nothing too major.." Mel smiled trying to mask the extreme headache she had at that moment.

"Well that is still pretty serious to me! I'm glad you're okay though! are your comfortable? do you need anything?" Delia's motherly instincts seemed to be kicking in.

"I'm fine thank you. Is that my baby girl!" Delia handed Ava to Mel and Jim sat close by incase Mel lost her balance with her or something.

"Hey baby! hope your day was better than mine" Mel smiled at the small bundle who was unaware of why she was in this place.

Delia stood next to Jim and smiled. "Leave it Melinda to get into a car accident, with serious head trauma and all she wants to do is hold that little girl" Delia looked on proudly at the mother and baby interacting with each other.

After a few routine tests, Melinda was deemed free to go. They gave her strong painkillers for her head and asked to see her again in a week. Mel went home feeling a little better knowing that she didn't have to stay the night.

Aiden was brought back to their house and was happy to see his mommy was okay. Jim put Ava to bed and fed Aiden dinner, who was exhausted from all the playing outside and soccer he had done. He soon dosed off and Jim brought him up to his bed.

Mel took her medication and passed out cold. She was so relieved that everyone, including herself was okay and home safe.


End file.
